Chapter 20 - Teammates Like Pigs

Chapter 20: Teammates Like Pigs

“Come over, but be careful. Who knows what traps they left behind.” Old Hu could see Fatty and Hu Yifei were practically vibrating with impatience, so he waved them over. Maybe they’d find something useful.

Yifei and Fatty eagerly hurried forward while Chen Yuze and Old Hu continued inspecting the area. Chen Yuze rummaged through a skeleton’s backpack and pulled out a notebook. At the same time, Old Hu found one as well. Chen Yuze flipped through the pages, but most of the contents were indecipherable to him. Should’ve studied harder. Too late now.

THUD!

Old Hu and Chen Yuze whipped around, teeth clenched. These two idiots had been startling them all night—this time, they nearly jumped out of their skins. Again?!

They turned to see Yifei standing innocently while Fatty lay sprawled face-first in front of her. Yifei blinked down at him. “Why’d you suddenly faceplant? You were walking just fine.”

Groaning, Fatty pushed himself up and brushed aside the leaves beneath him. “The hell’s this big crate doing here? No wonder I tripped! Old Hu, come check this out—might be treasure!”

Old Hu sighed, picking up a commander’s sword from beside the headless skeleton. He unsheathed it—the blade was still polished, the edge sharp. Chen Yuze’s eyes gleamed. Perfect. He remembered Guan Gu was supposed to visit their apartment soon. This genuine Japanese officer’s sword would make an amazing gift.

“You like this, kid?” Old Hu noticed Chen Yuze eyeing the blade. To him, it was just a weapon—nothing special.

“Yeah. A lot.” Chen Yuze scanned the area, hoping to find another.

Unfortunately, after some searching, all he turned up were two bayonets, a rusted Japanese pistol, a decently preserved rifle, and some bullets. Mostly junk. Disappointed, Chen Yuze sighed.

“Take it, then. I like your attitude—consider it a friendship gift.” Old Hu offered the sword.

Chen Yuze reached out but stopped halfway. “Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate it. But we don’t know what’s waiting in that tomb tomorrow. You’ll need it more than me. After we get back, I’ll trade you one of my guns for it. Won’t shortchange you. If you’re really going into this line of work, you’ll need proper gear.”

Old Hu grinned. “Can’t say no to that. I’ve been eyeing that pistol of yours.”

“Deal. Now let’s see what Fatty dug up.” Chen Yuze smirked. That pistol was cheap—barely any兑换点. If this mission succeeded, he’d have over a hundred兑换点 to spare. He could buy a dozen of them.

The two walked over to where Fatty and Yifei were gathered around a large crate. After confirming it was safe, Old Hu nodded, and Fatty eagerly pried it open—only to deflate instantly.

“What kind of junk is this? Where’s the treasure?!” Inside lay a pile of rusted tools and scrap metal.

Chen Yuze and Old Hu exchanged uneasy glances.

“That’s a Luoyang shovel.”

“And a German entrenching tool.”

“A Mauser C96…”

As they pulled everything out, their expressions darkened. Chen Yuze exhaled sharply. “Fellow tomb raiders. You think someone beat us to it?”

“Doubt it. If they’d succeeded, they wouldn’t have left this stuff behind. No one’s that wasteful.” Old Hu frowned.

“Take what we can use. We’ll figure it out back at camp.” Chen Yuze decided.

“Probably not.” Yifei pointed at the nearby skeletons. “These must be the ones who owned this gear. If they died here, they obviously failed. No one would leave their comrades’ bodies to rot if they’d succeeded. Plus, you found usable guns and bayonets—seems like the Japanese executed them.”

“Yifei’s right. No way we’re turning back now after coming all this way!” Fatty huffed. Were they just supposed to go home without even seeing the tomb?

Chen Yuze nodded. His system wouldn’t mislead him—and he wasn’t leaving empty-handed.

They hauled the tools back to camp. Old Hu flipped through the notebooks while Chen Yuze handed his over—he couldn’t read them anyway, though he took photos for later translation. Who knew? Maybe he’d return to this world someday. The system worked in mysterious ways.

“Yifei’s instincts were spot-on.” Old Hu chuckled, skimming the notes. “The tomb raiders did fail. The Japanese caught and executed them. No loot nearby means they never got in.”

“Also, these idiots got lost wandering the woods. When they heard from the raiders that Japan had surrendered, they offered themselves.” Old Hu smirked. “But here’s the kicker, the Kwantung Army’s fortress is nearby. We might hit the jackpot.”